Fishing Wire
by HappySunSad
Summary: Being found bleeding was near the end of the list of ways he'd have liked to tell them his secret. Now it looks like he doesn't get much say in the matter. Rated for blood! Reveal fic! No PP!
1. Chapter 1

"Danny," she said, again, warning in her voice as the ring flashed around his waist for the third time in the last minute. "Danny, don't."

He groaned with effort and the ring disappeared. His eyelids fluttered, and his shockingly green eyes trailed up to hers. "Right," he mumbled. "Right, I—Geez—" He squirmed away a bit, surprisingly strong. Jazz flinched, putting down the rubbing alcohol.

Jazz glanced him over again as he laid sprawled on her bed, his jumpsuit sleeves tied around his waist as she tried to clean a particularly nasty looking wound that started on one shoulder and made it all the way down to his stomach. It looked deep. But he wasn't flesh and blood in this state, so it made cleaning it and preparing to put stitches in easier.

That, and, if he changed back with this on him, he'd probably die. Really die.

His hair was slick with green, his face bruised and an assortment of smaller wounds littered his skin. Jazz bit her lip, pressed some gauze over the wound. "Here, hold this for me and stay awake," she whispered, moving his hand over it. She stood up and fished under her bed for their first aid kit, where the Fenton Fishing Wire would be, along with needles, band-aids, and bandages. Everything you could need to patch up an injured halfa.

She slid the box out from under her bed and cracked it open, only to find a pathetic six inch thread of fishing wire. Was that all they had left? That would be fine, if the wound wasn't enormous. She hissed under her breath and stood up quickly. "I'll be right back. There's more fishing wire in the lab, I don't have enough. You stay put and stay awake," she ordered, already making for the door.

Danny rolled his eyes, half awake. "Alright, not l-like I had plans," he mumbled, turning his head away from the door. He shuddered as the ring flashed again and he had to force it away.

Jazz must've seen, because he heard her run down the stairs.

She turned the corner at the bottom of the steps, darting for the basement. She wasn't sure if their parents were home yet. She hoped not, she really _really_ hoped not as she reached the bottom of the basement steps and—

"Jazz? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," Maddie said, nearly colliding with her on the way up the steps.

Jack started to his feet, grabbing his unfinished project off the counter. "GHOST? Where?! Where's the ghost Jazz—"

Jazz waved her hands, silencing her father with a look. "There's not a ghost!" she snapped. "I was just-just coming to check if you were home yet! And if you were going to-to make dinner!"

Maddie glanced at Jack, who she knew would only make the dinner contaminated with ectoplasm. "I was, yes," she said to Jazz, smiling. "Are you hungry? We can get started now, if you like."

Jazz nodded eagerly, a big smile on her face. "Yeah! I'm starving, and so is Danny! He's not home yet, he's at Tuckers! He said he'd be back for dinner," she said, watching as Maddie made her way up the steps. Jazz's gaze glanced over the lab, and she found another spool of Fenton Fishing Line, on a shelf with some other weapons.

She started across the room as Jack started to turn his attention back to the project he'd been working on. She passed behind him, hoping that he'd forgotten she was there when—

"Jazzy! You're just in time to hear me blather on about ghosts!" he said suddenly, turning from his project and managing to catch her before she could collect the wire. She glanced at it again as Jack launched into a tirade, explaining what his newest invention would do when they finally caught that Phantom kid.

Jazz had learned to tune it out by now, though she was sure she caught the favored 'molecule by molecule' phrase as he went on and on. And on. And _on._

But Danny didn't really have time for him to go on. Not that she could really say anything about that. She bit her tongue and hoped he'd stop soon, since listening quietly would probably go faster than trying to stop him.

* * *

Maddie had gone to the kitchen, preheated the oven, and was now heading up the stairs to change out of the jumpsuit she'd worn out into her pajamas. It seemed like a pajamas kind of night, she thought, walking down the hall and pulling back her hood and goggles.

She was tired, she was so…

Her thoughts trailed into a halt, as lights flashed behind a cracked door to Jazz's room. There was an unearthly white glow, a sound of pain, and it vanished.

Maddie froze in the hallway, blinking a couple times. That sounded like—

Another flash. Another groan, lower this time. That was definitely—

Suddenly she was moving again, getting out an ectoblaster, going for the door. A ghost was hurting her son! A ghost was—

The door hit the wall with a dull thud, leaving Maddie standing in the doorway, staring.

And for another long moment, she couldn't move as she tried to make sense of this.

Phantom was laying on Jazz's bed, his face screwed up in pain, halfway undressed and bleeding—was it bleeding if it wasn't blood?—badly. His pale hands were pressed against gauze, across his torso. Barely doing anything for the enormous wound.

He didn't even notice her for a moment, and the light flashed again, a ring formed around his waist. He grimaced harder for a moment, and it vanished.

He was hurt. Badly. And Maddie had to blink a couple times to break herself out of her trance. "What do you think you're doing in here, ghost?" she asked, but she couldn't find any force to put behind her voice.

Something was wrong, something was off. Something about the way that he gasped in pain when he sat up to see her, it felt too familiar. His toxic green eyes locked on her, and panic so completely washed over his features that for a moment he didn't say anything.

It looked too much like Danny waking up in the hospital after the accident—

The light flashed again, and his eyes snapped shut, he curled over on himself, groaning through clenched teeth. "Please," she heard, as the ring of light trembled around his waist. "Please, please, n-not like this—" The ring started to split and suddenly he yelled, louder suddenly. They snapped back together, and vanished again.

But that wasn't what Maddie was looking at anymore. It was….

"Is that… blood?" Maddie found herself whispering, lowing her gun. She didn't put it down, it hung at her side, but around his middle, where the ring had started to split, neon, glowing green was turning red. It didn't mix with the ectoplasm, more sat on the surface. Like oil.

Phantom looked up slowly, then nodded. He looked tired. He looked fragile, young… scared. Familiar. "I-I'm sorry," he mumbled. "This isn't… this isn't how I wanted to…" He shivered, looking down. "Mom, I'm sorry…"

Maddie stopped dead in her tracks, having made it about halfway to the bed. "Mom?" she echoed, not sure what to—

"It was the portal," he mumbled. "It was the ghost portal. I-I wanted to tell you, I wanted to—I was scared. I was really scared, I'm sorry—" The words seemed to fall out of his mouth, breathlessly. Did he even need to breathe? "I-I can't—" He broke off suddenly, the rings returning, this time not hesitating to start to split. He cried out in pain, this time it was high, broken.

Maddie flinched, because that—

"Danny?" she asked as he struggled with the rings. He nodded, before the rings slipped the rest of the way over his form.

And the green turned red.

* * *

"…and then the ghost will turn into it's own portal and be sucked back into the zone, or back to the lab! Depending on how I program—"

Jack stopped when he and Jazz heard the steps, thundering down the stairs. "JACK!" Maddie's voice bounced off the metal walls. "Get the first aid kit!"

Jazz literally felt herself pale. Maddie hit the bottom step like a thunderclap, and in her arms was a very unconscious, very human, Danny. She watched as Maddie gently laid Danny on the lab table, motioning for Jazz to—

To do what, exactly? How much had she seen? "Jazz! Help me!" Maddie snapped her out of thought and Jazz rushed over, seizing the fishing line that she'd come down for in the first place.

Maddie had blood all down her front, and she was trying to put pressure on the wounds as Jack rushed for the first aid kit. "What happened!?" he demanded, coming over. "He needs a hospital, Jazz call—"

"NO!" Jazz and Maddie yelled all at once. Then they slowly looked at each other, and Jazz realized just how much she knew.

Maddie's eyes snapped to Jazz, and she realized. "He needs stitches," Jazz said. "He'll be fine, we just need to stabilize him—"

"Are you sure?"

Jazz nodded. "He heals really _really_ fast," she said, breaking open the first aid kit that she'd taken from Jack.

Jack blinked a couple times. "What is going on?!" he demanded.

"Long story," Jazz snapped, starting to thread a hooked needle with the fishing wire.

Maddie frowned deeply. "That's not sterile," she began to say.

But Jazz was already starting before she could protest. With a practiced hand she began to sew the flesh back together, and Maddie wondered how many times she'd done this in secret. "It doesn't matter," Jazz murmured, motioning for Maddie to keep pressure on the rest of the wound while she worked her way down. "It's the only thing he can't phase through. Anything else, and he'll be bleeding again as soon as he uses it…"

Jack sputtered a little bit. "What are you two talking about!?" he asked, stepping around the table. "What happened!?"

Jazz bit her lip. She didn't want to tell them for him. She really didn't. "Danny can tell you when he's awake," she decided. She looked at her mother with a hard gaze. "Please. He'd want to tell you himself. He'd want to explain himself."

Maddie clearly looked a bit unsure on this, but she nodded. "How can I help?"

Jazz looked down at Danny. She was about halfway finished, but he was way too pale. His breathing way too light. "Get some ectoplasm and get an IV in him."

Jack's mouth fell open. His jaw hit the ground when his wife didn't even hesitate, getting a container of ectoplasm and transferring it to one of the bags in their first aid kit, which was far too extensive.

Maddie started feeling around for a vein and Jack suddenly stepped forward to stop her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Trust me, this will make sense later," Maddie said. "I… I don't really know how to explain it."

Jack hesitated a moment, before letting her arm go. And he stepped back, waiting for an explanation.

* * *

Jazz finally leaned back, putting down the needle and thread. "Alright," she mumbled, going to clean the blood off her hands. She tossed her mother a roll of bandages. "Wrap him up and we'll take him upstairs."

Jack was seated by the table, keeping an eye on Danny. They'd already had a very roundabout conversation on _why is his heart rate so low? Why isn't it stabilizing?_ Maddie hovered near Danny's head, gently cleaning the green and red out of his hair.

She glanced up as Jazz came back over, motioning for Jack, who was holding the IV bag, to stand. "We shouldn't move him," Maddie said. "He's hurt—"

"Trust me," Jazz said. "We _do not_ want him waking up on a lab table, he'll freak."

Maddie thought about this for a moment, and understood. "Ah," she said. "Right, yeah, that makes sense." She delicately lifted Danny off the table after they finished the bandages. She and Jack moved upstairs, situating Danny on the couch.

Jazz sat herself down by him so he wouldn't try to bolt the instant he woke up. She managed to wave their parents off, telling them that she'd let them know when he woke up.

* * *

It was a few hours before he stirred, his eyelids fluttering a couple times before he glanced down at Jazz. "Jazz?" he mumbled. She looked up from her book, smiling a little. He let out a breath, closing his eyes tightly. "I did not seriously tell Mom, did I?" he whispered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Not like this…"

Jazz sat down on the edge of the couch, grabbing an extra pillow and helping prop him up. "They… know somethings up. I don't know how much Mom knows. Dad didn't see you do anything, but ah…" she trailed off, tapping his wrist.

He glanced down to find an IV taped on his arm, glowing green liquid flowing into his body. "Oh," he whispered. So, they'd been convinced to give him straight ectoplasm. Ah, yes, this was good. This was good.

Jazz nodded. "We… we have some explaining to do," she said.

Danny nodded back, pressing his hands to his face. "Oh _no_ ," he moaned.

Jazz winced. "Yeah… well, you're not being—"

"If you say anything about my molecules I will float myself to my room, right now," Danny snapped.

Jazz gave him a weak grin and nodded. "Well. We might as well rip the band aid off," she said, getting up to go get their parents.

Danny watched her go, pressing himself into the couch and wanting to disappear completely.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading! This is my very first published fanfic ^_^ drop a review and let me know how i did? I have an idea for a second part to this, so that might go up next :D See ya around!

-Happy 3


	2. Chapter 2

**To everyone who reviewed: THANK YOUUUU! you made me so happy, and this is for all of you 3 you motivated me big time, thank you so much! -Happy**

* * *

He thought about disappearing. He considered it, but he was still tired and that would take effort. Too much effort.

In the other room he heard Jazz announce that he'd woken up, and then whisper something she clearly didn't want him to hear, but thanks to his enhanced senses he still caught the "and don't ask about tests or samples or anything, okay?"

He was pleasantly surprised when Maddie whispered back, "Do you really think that we'd hurt our own son?" That put a small smile on his face. He knew he shouldn't worry so much, if the Reality Gauntlet incident had taught him anything. But it was easy to worry.

 _If Clockwork hasn't intervened then all is as it should be,_ he reminded himself, and let out a deep sigh. He glanced up as Jazz came back with Maddie and Jack in tow. They each pulled up a kitchen chair by the couch, and Jazz sat down at his side.

Leave it to Jazz to offer herself up for moral support. He noticed that she sat almost in his way of them. Like a shelter. Like a buffer, a wall.

And for a long moment, no one said anything. Danny still wasn't sure how much they knew, or how well they'd taken it. He swallowed hard and shifted around on his pillow. "So… uh… let's…"

Maddie bit her lip. "How about I start with what I saw, then you explain, hm?" she offered.

That was tempting. Let his mom do all the work? It was really tempting. But that wasn't how he wanted to do this. Danny shook his head. "I'll just..." he mumbled. "So uh… It started with the portal. Uh, you remember how I said I got it working? And that's how it shocked me, we went to the hospital and…"

Maddie nodded. "Is that not what happened?"

Danny swallowed hard. "I mean, yeah?" he said. "Except I wasn't… outside the portal—"

"You were _inside the portal_?"

And he nodded. "There's an on switch, on the inside, you know. It wasn't pushed. But it _was_ plugged in and uh… I pushed it."

Now there was silence. And Danny let it hang there for a moment. Then, quietly, Maddie slid over to the couch and pulled him into a gentle hug. "You should be dead," she whispered, fear evident in her voice. "We're so lucky you're still here…"

Danny smiled into her shoulder, nodding a bit. "Yeah," he said. He leaned back. "I got the ghost powers from that. We think that ectoplasm fused with my DNA. So I'm…"

Jack blinked a bit. "Half ghost," he mused. "Incredible… Are you safe like this?"

Danny nodded seriously, wanting to dissuade them from needing to check. "Yeah, I'm fine. I haven't gotten sick in two years, not from any human disease anyways. I heal super fast. I can hold my breath, like, forever. I'm totally healthy, for a half-ghost."

Jack's eyes lit up a little bit. "Can we see?"

Jazz put her hands up. "Now hold on, he just woke up from being hurt!" she said.

Danny bit his lip. "And uh… you've already seen me like that."

Jack frowned deeply. "We have?"

Maddie looked down at Danny. "We have," she said quietly. "You're—"

"I'm Danny Phantom," he blurted out. He wanted to say it. He wanted to be the one who said it to them for the first time, not his mom. Not Jazz. Because this was his.

Phantom was his secret.

Jack's mouth fell open for the second time that day, and he was speechless. Maddie nodded a bit. "And we've been shooting at you," she mumbled. "Danny, I'm so—"

"No, no no no, it's okay!" Danny exclaimed. "It's my fault. I'm the one who didn't say anything. For like, two years. I could've told you."

"I don't blame you for not telling us!" Jack said. "I mean, with how we talk about Phantom, I'd be scared too! I'm so sorry…"

Danny sat up the rest of the way, testing his injury. It was already feeling a lot better. "I'm okay," he said. "I wouldn't have let you do anything to me… Are we okay?"

Maddie smiled. "We are, if you are," she said.

Jack nodded sincerely. "Yeah! We love you son, ghost, boy, or something in between!"

Danny let out a quiet sigh of relief. That was what he'd been waiting for. That was definitely a sign that things would be okay, right? It had to be. "And we're just glad you're okay," Maddie added. "What… what happened?"

Danny pushed his hair back. "Ah, I was in a fight," he said simply. "it didn't go like I thought it would. Can't win them all."

Jazz nodded a little. "And I mean, he's usually fine!" she added. "He hasn't had to get stitches in a long time, he's a hero!"

"M'not a hero," Danny mumbled. Jazz decided against mentioning his hero complex. "Really, I'm just helping people. Protecting them. And I didn't kidnap the mayor! He was overshadowed and he was kidnapping me! And—and I didn't mean to steal all that stuff, there was this guy who had gem stone that controls ghosts and it worked on me and—"

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay!" Maddie said, waving her hands. "It's okay Danny. I know you'd never hurt anyone intentionally."

Danny considered telling them about Dan. But he didn't. "Anyways… it's all out in the open now. I'm half ghost. And I kinda want to take another nap, if I can?"

Maddie stood up. "Of course, sweetie!" she said. "Do you want to go upstairs?"

Danny nodded, starting to get up. "I got it," he said, deciding to put his parents to the test. He stepped away from them all. He mentally reached inwards to touch his core, and the bright ring of light flickered to life around his waist.

He watched their faces carefully as it split up and down over his body. His jumpsuit had been put the rest of the way back on, his gloves reappeared. He had to admit, the look on his moms face just about made him laugh.

"How does it work?" she found herself asking.

Danny leaned back into the air, taking the weight off his feet. "I just focus on it," he shrugged. "I can answer questions later, if that's okay? I'm tired and sore…"

Maddie nodded quickly. "Oh, oh, yes of course! Go get some sleep, Danny," she said quickly.

Danny flashed her a smile and turned intangible, then floated up through the ceiling into his room. But he didn't lie down, he listened. He could still hear down in the living room, and he wanted to know if everything had gone as well as he thought it had.

He heard Jazz start. "So," she said. "We're good, right? You're not going to like, try to test anything on him in his sleep or anything?"

Maddie groaned. "Jazz, sweetie, we never would've said all those things about Danny Phantom if we'd known… I mean we'll maybe want to check if he really is healthy? He seems fine, I haven't noticed anything in the last couple years with his health. Except maybe the exhaustion and the slipping grades—"

"That's from fighting ghosts," Jazz said expertly. "See, you've been doing studies on ghosts and their obsessions, right?"

"Yes, it's really—Does Danny have an obsession?" Jack asked.

Danny tensed. "Yeah," Jazz said. "It's not something that I can tell you about though. Ghosts don't like that. And Danny doesn't either."

"Just how ghost is he?" Maddie asked.

Jazz smiled. "Half," she said. "But the ghost stuff hasn't truly affected his personality, except maybe making him more responsible. He's a hero—oh! Here, let me get my scrapbook!"

Danny smiled softly, sitting on the floor of his room. Yeah, things would be alright. Jazz had his back.

And that meant he could really take a nap. He transformed back and crawled in bed, pulling his blanket over his head.

This was good. This would be good.

* * *

Thank you to Mynasaurus for beta reading!


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